Apparatus for treating liquids



Oct. 14, 1941. E. w. SMITH 2,258,630

APPARATUS FOR TREATING LIQUIDS Filed June 1, 1959 INVENTOR. Edward W \Sm/fh Patented Oct. 14, 1941 APPARATUS FOR TREATING LIQUIDS Edward W. Smith, Melrose, Mass, assignor to Submarine Signal Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Maine Application June 1, 1939, Serial No. 276,836

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating liquids with compressional wave energy of audible frequency, and more Particu-.

larly to a soundproof casing for housing such apparatus.

An apparatus for treating liquids with compressional wave energy is described in United States Patent No. 2,138,051, issued to Robert L. Williams. When a device of this type is used, intense audible sound waves are produced in the atmosphere. In order to reduce the disagreeable effects of such sound waves, I have developed a housing within which the oscillator is supported in such a manner as substantially prevents any of the sound energy from reaching the surrounding tight or at least substantially so, or making the leaks so small that they cannot act as sources of radiation.

To prevent vibrations of the housing in part or as a whole, the housing must be substantially rigid in all its parts against the action of the atmosphere. Moreover, my device provides ready access to all parts of the oscillator so that the latter may be cleaned and serviced without difficulty and without the necessity of removing it from the housing.

My invention will best be understood from the following description taken with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows a perspective view of the invention.

As shown in the drawing the housing comprises a shell I having a base 2 which may be supported by channel irons 3 on a concrete or other suitable foundation. The open front and back of the shell are closed by suitable cover members. I prefer to make each of these in the form of two sections split along the center line. Thus, as

1 shown in the drawing, the front cover comprises the members 4 and 5 while the back cover is formed by the members 8 and 1. Each of these members is hinged tothe shell I by the hinges 8. When these covers or doors are closed, they are tightly locked in position by simple clamping devices which may, as shown, be formed of a rod 9 pivoted to the shell at In and threaded at the free end to receive the clamping nut II which bears against projections H on two adjacent doors. Four of these locking devices are sufficient to hold all the doors securely closed.

The sound energy developed by the oscillator inside the housing may be of a magnitude of two kilowatts of power or more and this energy which produces powerful vibration of the oscillatorqcasing, cover, supports and connections will tend to be transmitted to the air medium external of the housing through vibrations of the housing in parts or as a whole, through vibrations of the oscillator casing supports or through propagation by means of any air connections between the inside and outside of the housing, The latter is easily taken care of by making the housing airsound waves. In the present invention this is accomplished by making the housing either of a heavy. plating or casting of iron or other metal substantially uniform in thickness throughout or lightening up the housing and using stiffening ribs. positioned to provide stiffness in all direc-' tions against the vibration that the operation of the oscillator produces.

When the oscillator is designed to have lower frequencies, the housing must be made stiffer which to a degree may be accomplished by thickening up the walls'or providing stiffening ribs. By making the housing in part or whole comparatively stiff or rigid at the frequency of vibrations that the oscillator operates, little sound energy will b transmitted by the walls of the housing to the external medium. In this case the natural frequency of vibration of the parts of the housing will base high above the frequency of the oscillator that the housing cannot be set in vibration to any substantial extent by vibration of the oscillator itself.

The housing as a whole may have its natural frequency set high above that of the oscillator or far below it so that it will not readily respond to the vibrations produced by the oscillator.

drawing, of cast iron approximately one inch in thickness, where the oscillator frequency is 360 cycles per second. By thus properly proportioning the thickness of the housing walls, substantially all vibrations of the same can be prevented.

Furthermore, in order to prevent air conduction of compressional wave energy from the inside or the outside of the housing, it is desirable to place acoustic insulating gaskets, preferably of a soft yielding material, between all joints in the housing. Thus, between the shell I and the cover doors 4 to I there are provided sponge rub ber gaskets l3 and H on the front and back of the shell'respectively. Moreover, since the base 2 projects forward and back of the shell I, similar insulating gaskets are placed along the front and back edges of the base where the cover doors come into contact with it as shown at It. An additional gasket is placed between the two sections of each of the covers as at- I8. The housing is thus made substantially airtight so that no sound energy can be conducted outwards through the air.

The drawing shows an oscillator I! mounted inside the housing. Inasmuch as portions of this device vibrate with a very high amplitude, it is desirable to prevent any direct metallic coupling between the oscillator and housing. The oscillator I! which has a base member I8 is therefore supported uponv the base 2 of the housing by means of a material which will not transmit compressional wave energy. Since the oscillator is a relatively heavy device I prefer to use for such supporting members steel angles to which rubber has been securely cemented. Such members are shown at I9, 20 and 2| and thus support the oscillator entirely on rubber.

For the treatment of liquids with the oscillator, especially where a continuous flow method is used. inlet and outlet liquid-conducting pipes to and from the vibration chamber of the oscillator must be provided. These are shown at 22 and 23. These pipes must, of course, pass through the housing. I prefer to arrange them as shown in the drawing so that this will occur at the junction between the two halves of the front cover. The apertures in the housing are lined with rube ber gaskets 24 and 25 and 'the pipes 22 and 23 where they pass through the cover are covered with rubber whereby air-sound conduction is prevented at these points. I have found, however, that if the pipes 22 and'23 are made of metal, some sound energy will be conducted out ward by the pipes and subsequently radiated to the atmosphere. To prevent this the liquid-conducting pipes have short sections such as 22 and 23 made entirely of a sound-insulating material such as rubber and fabric or the like.

Finally, it will be understood, although not shown in the drawing, that the oscillator if of the electromagnetic type must be supplied with electrical energy. It will be understood from what has been said above that the apertures through which the electric cables enter the housing must also be completely closed by a soundinsulating material;

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a device for treating liquids with compressional waves of audible frequency and a sound-proof casing for the same consisting of a massive'metallic housingcompletely surrounding said device and sound insulating means for supporting said device within said housing and without direct contact with the housing.

2. In combination, a device for treating liquids with compressional 'waves of audible frequency and a sound-proof casing for the same consisting of a massivemetallic housing adapted completely to surround said device and having suflicient mass and stillness substantially to prevent its vibrating at the frequency of said waves. said housing being formed of a plurality of parts, means locking said parts together and sound-inrial positioned between abutting closure surfaces and means for tightly locking said doors in their closed positions.

4. In combination, a compressional wave liquid-treating device producing audible sound waves, a massive metallic housing therefor adapted, when closed, completely to surround said device and having suflicient mass and still?- ness substantially to prevent its vibrating at the frequency of said waves, said housing comprising a shell open at one end and cover means for closing said end, liquid-conducting means passing through said cover means to said device within the housing, said liquid-conducting means having a section of soft sound insulating material completely filling the aperture where it passes through said cover means.

5. In combination, a device for treating liquids with compressional waves of audible frequency and a sound-proof casing for the same including a massive metallic housing completely surrounding said device, sound-insulating means for supporting said device within said housing and without direct contact with the housing and tubes for conducting liquid between a point outside of the housing and said device, said tube being separatied from said housing by sound-insulating mater a1.

6. In combination, a device for treating liquids with compressional waves of audible frequency and a sound-proof casing for the same including a massive metallic housing completely surrounding said device, sound-insulating means for supporting said device within said housing and without direct contact with the housing and tubes for conducting liquid between a point outside of the housing and said device, said tubes each having the section which passes through the housing wall made of a sound-insulating material.

7. In combination, a compressional wave liquid-treating device producing audible sound waves, a massive, stiif, metallic housing therefor constructed to be airtight when closed, and completely to surround said device, sounding insulating means for supporting said device within said housing,- means communicating between said device and the exterior of said housing and sound insulating means separating all said communicating means from said housing, whereby direct conduction of compressional wave energy from said device to said housing is averted.

EDWARD W. SMITH. 

